Rangers breaking news

[BUMP]

very close to acquiring Sammy Sosa. i have inside information :devil

your thoughts?

[Burn531]

The Rangers need more offense?

[Spurologist]

Stat padding for home runs

[Extra Stout]

1991 forum.

[johngateswhiteley]

i can't stand sammy sosa...and i can't stand the rangers. so this makes sense....then.

[BeerIsGood!]

Unless Sammy Sosa is the coincidental name of a 21 year old fireballer with wicked stuff then I have no interest.

[Porno Shakespeare]

Sammy Sosa is a piece of shit.

Roids + Corked Bat = NO FUCKING CREDIBILITY = I HATE HIM AND WOULD NOT THINK TWICE OR SHED A TEAR IF THAT SELFISH, HEARTLESS, SON OF A BITCH DROPPED OFF THIS EARTH!

[dallaskd]

Sammy Sosa is a piece of shit.

Roids + Corked Bat = NO FUCKING CREDIBILITY = I HATE HIM AND WOULD NOT THINK TWICE OR SHED A TEAR IF THAT SELFISH, HEARTLESS, SON OF A BITCH DROPPED OFF THIS EARTH!

[dallaskd]

i like it.

[BUMP]

i can't stand sammy sosa...and i can't stand the rangers. so this makes sense....then.

why? its just the rangers....

[Spurologist]

Sammy Sosa is a piece of shit.

Roids + Corked Bat = NO FUCKING CREDIBILITY = I HATE HIM AND WOULD NOT THINK TWICE OR SHED A TEAR IF THAT SELFISH, HEARTLESS, SON OF A BITCH DROPPED OFF THIS EARTH!

:lmao Porno Shakespeare?

What do you really think of Sammy Sosa?

[MajorMike]

Rangers getting Sosa on a minor league contract is frickin brilliant. This is a guy who could coneivably hit .280 with 30-40 dings. I hate Corky the Sneezer, but this move is bank by the Rangers; they can't lose. If he sucks, well its only a minor league contract. If he plays anything like the former MVP, it might be the deal of the decade.

[sribb43]

its really a no lose situation for Texas. if he can produce 1/2 of what he used to be then he would be a very valuable DH and play OF sparingly who could hit 5th in the lineup, I think he is a few homers away from 600 and from a marketing stand point it could put a few more butts in the seats in arlington. if he cant hit in spring training then just waive him. its better than paying Piazza a 1yr 8.5 mil(A's) contract or Frank Thomas 2yr18 mil(3rd yr option 10mil)Toronto

[dallaskd]

and cheap so you can always release him.

[tsb2000]

Got cork? It's just for batting practice. :spin

http://www.scientificdealers.com/corkstoppers/natural-wine-cork-stoppers.jpg

[K-State Spur]

This is a guy who could coneivably hit .280 with 30-40 dings.

You clearly didn't see him in Baltimore. As an O's fan, I was thinking the worst case scenario was .250 w/25 HRs and a .750 OPS. Instead, we got .221 w/ 14 HRs and sub .675 OPS.

He still hit hanging breaking balls, but he can no longer turn on even a mediocre fastball and he still swings at every slider (or curveball or changeup or splitter) in the dirt.

[MoSpur]

If he works out fine, good. If he doesn't, no big deal. I am still waiting for them to get good pitching.

[MajorMike]

You clearly didn't see him in Baltimore. As an O's fan, I was thinking the worst case scenario was .250 w/25 HRs and a .750 OPS. Instead, we got .221 w/ 14 HRs and sub .675 OPS.

He still hit hanging breaking balls, but he can no longer turn on even a mediocre fastball and he still swings at every slider (or curveball or changeup or splitter) in the dirt.


Hench the word "could" in the sentence.

[K-State Spur]

Hench the word "could" in the sentence.

"Could" implies that he is "able" to. I'm saying that he no longer has that ability.

[MajorMike]

I'm saying he does. Just because the Orioles were lame and he didn't have support around him isn't his fault.

[dallaskd]

I like the signing. He will prove it he can still hit.

[Extra Stout]

Corky has been done for a couple of years now.

[K-State Spur]

I'm saying he does. Just because the Orioles were lame and he didn't have support around him isn't his fault.

???????? HUH?

The 2005 Orioles had some shitty pitching, but...

Brian Roberts (.902 OPS) + Mora (.822 OPS) + Tejada (.864 OPS) + Palmeiro (.820+ OPS before steroid suspension) + Gibbons (.833 OPS) + Lopez (.780 OPS)

= significantly better protection than he is going to get from the Rangers line-up this season.

Besides, protection in the order has absolutely nothing to do with his complete inability to turn on a quality fastball. Slowing hands won't improve with age.

[MajorMike]

74-88 was B-more in '05.

[K-State Spur]

74-88 was B-more in '05.

yep, partly because their everyday RFer and clean-up hitter posted a .671 OPS. sosa was (by far) the worst hitter in an OF that consisted of such all-stars as luis matos and larry bigbie.

other than that, their line-up was pretty darn good. the real problem was pitching. their supposed ace posted a 6.21 ERA, the projected closer was up at 5.90. When Bruce Chen is your best starting pitcher, you have problems.

Besides, I thought protection in the order was the discussion? (Which, come to think of it, why are we discussing protection in the order? The days of anybody pitching around Sammy are LONG LONG LONG gone.)

[MajorMike]

Sorry. If you are trying to argue the Os were a good team, I'm not buying it. If you are trying to argue they were all All Stars and the pitchers made them go sub-500 I'm not buying it. If you are trying to argue that it was Corky's fault they sucked, I'm not buying it. He actually played only 100ish (103 or something) games for them. He started out good and went into a slump, during which he got moved to 7th in the order, a move he admittedly hated and whined and cried about. He hit 35 homers 2 years ago and 40some the year before that. Saying he might hit .280 was likely a little over the top, but was trying to make the point that this is a win-win situation for the Rangers. They are paying next to nothing to give someone that hit .290 with 50 homers within the past 5 years. Being bitter that he did not work out for you as an O's fan does not change this.

[K-State Spur]

Nope, never argued that they were a good team. Only said that the middle of their line-up that year was likely better than what the Rangers will be trotting out this season (which isn't really arguable unless you want to completely ignore numbers). Although, I re-iterate that line-up protection is irrelevant because nobody has pitched around Sosa since his second to last year in Chicago.

And Sosa was as big a part of the birds' failure in 2005 as anybody. Certainly there were others, but with the possible exception of Sidney Ponson, it is impossible to argue that anybody on that team had a worse season than he did.

The good start he got off to that year was a .780 OPS in April (still well below the league average for RFers). It was down to .620 overall by the end of May. (And his 35 HRs were 3 years ago, not 2).

With a minor league deal, it's absolutely no risk to the rangers, so I don't fault them unless they actually put him on the team. I just see it as a low risk/low reward. Aging players with slowing hands don't magically start turning on big league fastballs again.

[Britney]

lose lose

[dallaskd]

???????? HUH?

The 2005 Orioles had some shitty pitching, but...

Brian Roberts (.902 OPS) + Mora (.822 OPS) + Tejada (.864 OPS) + Palmeiro (.820+ OPS before steroid suspension) + Gibbons (.833 OPS) + Lopez (.780 OPS)

= significantly better protection than he is going to get from the Rangers line-up this season.

Besides, protection in the order has absolutely nothing to do with his complete inability to turn on a quality fastball. Slowing hands won't improve with age.


i like the fact that your a k-state fan. but come on baltimore sucks balls.

[dallaskd]

tejada is the only thing theve had since ripkin.

[K-State Spur]

i like the fact that your a k-state fan. but come on baltimore sucks balls.

what part of "better protection that the rangers line-up" are you guys reading and turning into me saying that Baltimore was a good team?????

And Markakis will be the best thing in Baltimore since Ripken.

and yes, i too, like the fact that i am kstate fan :).

[MajorMike]

Did you go to school there? I always thought Manhattan was a ... well... dismal little town. Am I completely off base?

[K-State Spur]

Yep, I'm an alum and yes, you are off base. Actually, I never thought it was signficantly different from Stillwater.

Always rooted for Okie State, A&M, and Iowa State as I have seen a lot of similarities between the Ag schools in this conference. The Land Grant schools need to stick together.

[K-State Spur]

BUMP.

I do have to say, I didn't think Sammy would hit 4 HRs all year. But that .650 OPS isn't making it look like he is too far away from the waiver wire either.